What I've Learned Along The Way: Part I (with a Disclaimer)

My plan for this blog at first is to share what I've learned during my husband's four years of residency, both about myself and about the residency job in general. Remember, residency really IS a job. As soon as a medical student graduates from medical school, he or she is no longer a student, but an M.D. without the specific training for his/her preferred field. I in no way want to diminish the importance of medical school, since many people marry during this critical time in life, just as my husband and I did. However, personally, it's been over four years since my husband was a student, and after caring for a baby as well as for my husband and my home, I've forgotten some of the events of our first three years of marriage. I do remember that it was a difficult, time-consuming four years for my husband, filled with studying and exams with lots of opportunities for fun scattered throughout. However, I also remember that I worked full-time when he was in school and spent many a late evening at my office job, so we kind of balanced each other out when it came to working long hours. Since residency is a more recent occurrence for my husband and myself, I will focus more on it's impact in our lives. First, a disclaimer: Every residency program is different, just as every man and woman is different. The things I'll be discussing in the following posts will not apply to everyone. However, I feel I've spoken to enough physician spouses to discover that there are similarities between our situations. If you are the spouse of a physician, or even the spouse of someone with a career that takes them away from home and family for most of the week, then please feel free to chime in in the comments section with your thoughts, either here or in future posts. I would like this blog to be both an "advice column" (using the term "advice" very loosely, since I feel I'm not qualified to advise most people on anything) as well as a discussion forum for peoples' thoughts, feelings, and own revelations concerning their personal situations.
So, shall we begin? In my next blog post, I hope to list the specific things I've learned while traveling with my husband through the journey that is residency. I will be using the metaphor of "a journey" a lot in my blog, I think. Because, really, what is life, but a journey with our loved ones? Hope to see you along the way!
Best to you all,
Amanda